News by Subject Agriculture

Plants are constantly exposed to microbes: pathogens that cause disease, commensals that cause no harm or benefit, and mutualists that promote plant growth or help fend off pathogens. For example, most land plants can form positive relationships with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to improve nutrient uptake. How plants fight off pathogens without also killing beneficial microbes or wasting energy on commensal microbes is a largely unanswered question.

Global ecosystem restoration efforts are often measured by billions of trees planted or square kilometers of land restored. But there is a critical void in the agenda: the social and political dimensions that make restoration a success.

Scientists are hoping the RNA of an obscure infection can one day be used like a Trojan horse to deliver life-saving treatments to citrus trees.

A CABI-led study has revealed that the success of Classical Biological Control (CBC) in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East is only rarely dependent on the released biological control agent, but more often on other factors, such as the target pest, its host plant, or the circumstances of the releases.

Wine grape growers in California and elsewhere face increasing labor costs and severe labor shortages, making it difficult to manage and harvest a vineyard while maintaining profitability. Growers are increasingly turning to machines for pruning, canopy management and harvesting, but how well these practices are executed can substantially affect yield and quality. A new review by researchers at the University of California, Davis provides guidelines for growers to make the best use of machines.

A new study published in Nature Food quantifies for the first time the impact that double-cropping had on helping Brazil achieve its national grain boom. Jing Gao, assistant professor of geospatial data science in the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean and Environment (CEOE) and Data Science Institute (DSI), was a co-author on the study that included collaborators from institutions in China and Brazil.

A new study published at the scientific journal Frontiers in Plant Science by CRAG and IRTA researchers reveals the gene that determines Japanese plum skin colour due to the presence or absence of antioxidant pigment anthocyanin. This work provides a highly efficient molecular marker for early selection of coloured and non-coloured fruits in plum breeding programmes, with potential applications in other Rosaceae species.